Three Kisses Before Christmas by Wilde, Tanya (epub e ink reader txt) 📕

suddenly announced, settling comfortably into the pillows. “You are not on the shelf yet. If you want to marry Langley, now is your chance.”

Well . . .

Yes.

And no.

Constructing castles in the sky and stuffing them with dreams was one thing, entering the possibility of that reality quite another. Rebecca preferred the outskirts rather than the center. The shadows rather than the light. The outdoors rather than a ballroom. Much like her brother, she shied away from crowds and bustling places.

Also, there was Knightley’s.

Honestly, there was a sort of thrill about being at the helm of an establishment that men fell slaves to. And her involvement in the club could not be overlooked.

Which meant marriage was off the table. But Caroline did not know that. No one did. A first kiss, she could do. She had certainly fantasized about it enough. But to wed? She was not as innocent as everyone believed. And if society ever discovered her secret, she would be ruined beyond repair.

“I’m happy with my life, Caro.”

“Have you not mooned over the man for years now?”

“Certainly not.”

Caroline raised a brow.

Well, not since she acquired Knightley’s, at least. “You knew?” Rebecca questioned.

Caroline’s brow lifted even higher.

Rebecca sighed. “Mooning is a bit of a stretch. How did you know?”

“I am more perceptive than most.”

“Langley has never sought me out,” Rebecca pointed out, hoping Caroline would leave the matter be. “We haven’t spoken in ages.”

“But this is Langley.”

True.

But this is also Langley. Even if she was inclined to step up to the challenge, which she was not, he was a Ton favorite. As a wallflower, despite his sweet words all those years ago, she went unnoticed for the most part. Emphasis on for the most part.

Because Rebecca wasn’t just any wallflower, she was the worst sort. And by worst, Rebecca meant the kind of wallflower that completely shut down when attention fell on her at large gatherings. Even thinking about it, a nasty chill spread through her belly.

She clamped up like an oyster protecting a precious pearl. But what came after she clamped up was what had her turning tail for the nearest escape. Instead of blending into her surroundings, Rebecca inflamed them.

She had never gotten into the swing of being an invisible wallflower. Oh no, the blazing tips of her ears and pink blotches that broke out over her face did not allow her to blend into the shadows. Sweat would not bead daintily upon her brows, it rolled over her face droplet after droplet like a waterfall. What was worse than a clamped up wallflower who couldn’t blush properly?

A sweaty, blotchy one.

Which was why she rarely ever attended events anymore.

“You know what happens when I attend gatherings, Caro. I have never been equipped for social settings. Besides, I’d have to present myself at the Stapleton festivities and I can hardly go on my own. You are with child and Mason will not attend without you.” Neither did Rebecca want to subject herself to the humiliation of leaking perspiration over the Stapletons’ marble floor.

“So you will give up?” Caroline asked.

Rebecca could not very well admit she could never marry Langley, so she said. “I will give the matter some thought.”

“Thoughts breed excuses. Actions breed results.”

Rebecca decided not to dwell on that. So she changed the subject. “Does a man not search for a wife in season?”

“I gather he did not want to be crushed by the onslaught of overeager mothers, though, how much of the news is pure speculation, I cannot say.”

Rebecca nodded absently.

Save me your first kiss.

The heart of a woman, she had come to realize, was a strange object indeed. The concept of time appeared but an illusion and reason did not exist within its bounds. Hers, for example, had clung to those wondrous words like a lifeline. And if ever there was a time to act upon all her dreams, it was now. Before Langley took a wife.

So why was she hesitating?

He had suggested she save her first kiss for him. And while Rebecca held no illusion that he had obsessed over the words as she had, would she be a fool not to act upon her wish to gift Langley her first kiss?

“Shall we devise a plan to make him yours?” Caroline asked. “Lord knows, I need a distraction from my belly and the child growing within. I cannot sleep for all his kicking.”

“You are supposed to stay in bed, Caro. If Mason learns you’ve been disobeying the doctor’s wishes he will lock you in your chamber.”

“Why do you think I’ve orchestrated these two blissful days? Mason has been suffocating me with his list of things I cannot do or consume. I needed space to breathe.”

“Two days are not much,” Rebecca pointed out skeptically.

“They are enough,” Caroline said on a happy sigh. “What say you? Shall I start plotting?”

“Please, no. You should rest. Let me worry about my future.”

“I can do both at the same time.”

The corners of Rebecca’s mouth lifted. “I have no doubt.” She paused. “Truth be told, I am not certain Langley and I suit.” Rebecca shrugged. “As I said, we haven’t spoken in ages.”

“That only means you are human. No one truly knows whether they suit until they discover that they do.” Caroline smiled. “So what is it to be? What awaits you this festive season?”

A trickle of excitement sparked in the region of her belly. A first kiss awaited her. She might not know what fate held after that, she might be a touch terrified, but Rebecca was suddenly sure, beyond logic, about one thing: her life was about to change. The sensation of certainty started in the center of a bud blooming inside her breast and spread until it felt like an irrefutable fact.

Rebecca smiled at Caroline. What awaited her this season?

“Destiny.”

Chapter 2

Wolfstan reined his horse to a halt as a saddled mare burst through a cluster of trees and dashed straight for the Westbridge Park stables. He frowned and darted his gaze to the thicket and